Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)
The under secretary of defense (comptroller)/chief financial officer, abbreviated USD(C)/CFO, is a high level civilian official in the United States Department of Defense. The Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) is the principal staff assistant and adviser to both the Secretary of Defense and the Deputy Secretary of Defense for all budgetary and fiscal matters, including the development and execution of the Defense Department's annual budget.
| Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) /Chief Financial Officer | |
|---|---|
.png.webp) Seal of the Under Secretary | |
 Under Secretary of Defense flag | |
| Department of Defense Office of the Secretary of Defense | |
| Style | The Honorable |
| Reports to | Secretary of Defense Deputy Secretary of Defense |
| Seat | The Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia, United States |
| Appointer | The president with Senate advice and consent |
| Term length | No fixed term |
| Constituting instrument | 10 U.S.C. § 135 |
| Formation | 1994 |
| First holder | John J. Hamre |
| Succession | 7th in SecDef succession |
| Salary | Executive Schedule, level III[1] |
| Website | comptroller |
The Under Secretary is appointed by the president and confirmed by the United States Senate to serve at the pleasure of the president.[2]
The position of Defense Department Comptroller was originally at the rank of Assistant Secretary until the National Defense Authorization Act of 1995 upgraded the position to its current rank of Under Secretary.[3]
Overview
The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/CFO is the principal staff office for the Defense Department on all budgetary and fiscal matters, including the development and execution of the Defense Department's annual budget of more than $700 billion. As chief financial officer, the Under Secretary's Office also oversees the Department's financial policy, financial management systems, and business modernization efforts.[4]
The Under Secretary is chair of the Financial Management Modernization Executive Committee, which has the goal of making sure that each of the Department of Defense's critical accounting, financial, and data feeder systems are compliant with applicable federal financial management and reporting requirements.[5] The Comptroller is also a member of the Defense Business System Management Committee.[6]
With the rank of Under Secretary, the USD(C) is a Level III position within the Executive Schedule. Since January 2019, the annual rate of pay for Level III is $176,900.
Reporting officials
Officials reporting to the USD(C) include:
- Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)
- Director, Defense Contract Audit Agency
- Director, Defense Finance and Accounting Service
- Director, Resource Issues
- Deputy Comptroller (Budget and Appropriation Affairs)
- Deputy Comptroller (Program/Budget)
- Deputy Chief Financial Officer
- Director, Human Capital and Resource Management
The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), abbreviated DUSD(C), is the USD(C)'s chief deputy and assumes the duties of the USD(C) in his or her absence. Pursuant to Public Law 111-84, the DUSD(C) is appointed from civilian life by the president of the United States with the consent of the Senate.
Budget
Budget totals
The annual budget for the USD(C) is contained in the Office of the Secretary of Defense's (OSD) budget, under the Defense-Wide Operation and Maintenance (O&M) account.
| Line Item | FY10 Actual | FY11 Estimate | FY12 Request |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core OSD Operating Program[8] | |||
| Civilian Pay and Benefits, USD (C) | 26,567 | 33,680 | 28,213 |
| Program Structure[9] | |||
| Comptroller Initiatives | 17,467 | 23,403 | 18,554 |
| Future Years Defense Program Improvement | 3,408 | 3,510 | 3,562 |
| Administrative Support | 1,420 | 1,283 | 1,164 |
| Capabilities Portfolio Management | 4,495 | 20,000 | 0 |
| Next Generation Resource Management System | 0 | 0 | 3,991 |
| Enterprise Funds Distribution System Support | 0 | 0 | 2,992 |
| Travel | 258 | 456 | 272 |
| Overseas Contingency Operations[10] | |||
| OCO OUSD (Comptroller) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | |||
| Total Budget | 53,615 | 82,332 | 58,748 |
Budget features
- Comptroller Initiatives - Support for producing and providing senior Department leadership with authoritative, accurate, and timely financial statements and support Department-wide business transformation efforts by improving financial management processes, systems, and financial reporting. This funding appears to support the programs of the Defense Contract Audit Agency and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.
- Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) Improvement - Maintain the FYDP information system used to collect, transform, disseminate, build reports, and provide analytical displays for planning, programming, budgeting, and execution activities
- Administrative Support - Funds services including general office support, data administration, records management, workflow and correspondence tracking, and other administrative tasks
- Capabilities Portfolio Management (CPM) - Funds OSD and Joint programs used to advise senior Department leadership and support strategic decision making to optimize investments and minimize risks in providing capabilities to the Warfighter. CPM includes programs such as Command & Control, Joint Logistics, Net Centric Operations, Corporate Management Support, and Battlespace Awareness
- Next Generation Resource Management System (NGRMS) - Maintain IT system used to formulate, justify, present, and defend the DoD budget, including equipment maintenance support, software upgrades, and software licenses
- Enterprise Funds Distribution System Support (EFDSS) - Maintain IT system used for controlling and distributing funds, including equipment maintenance support, software upgrades, and software licenses
- Travel - Funds employee travel in support of the OUSD(C) mission
Office holders
The table below includes both the various titles of this post over time, as well as all the holders of those offices.
| Portrait | Name | Tenure | SecDef(s) served under | President(s) served under |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assistant Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) | ||||
| Wilfred J. McNeil | 12 September 1949 – 1 November 1959 | Louis A. Johnson George C. Marshall Robert A. Lovett Charles E. Wilson Neil H. McElroy | Harry Truman Dwight Eisenhower | |
| Franklin B. Lincoln | 2 December 1959 – 20 January 1961 | Thomas S. Gates | Dwight Eisenhower | |
| Charles J. Hitch | 17 February 1961 – 31 July 1965 | Robert S. McNamara | John F. Kennedy Lyndon Johnson | |
| Robert N. Anthony | 10 September 1965 – 31 July 1968 | Robert S. McNamara Clark M. Clifford | Lyndon Johnson | |
| Robert C. Moot | 1 August 1968 – 9 January 1973 | Clark M. Clifford Melvin R. Laird | Lyndon Johnson Richard Nixon | |
| Don R. Brazier (Acting) | 10 January 1973 – 20 January 1973 | Melvin R. Laird | Richard Nixon | |
| Terence E. McClary | 21 June 1973 – 31 August 1976 | James R. Schlesinger Donald H. Rumsfeld | Richard Nixon Gerald Ford | |
| Fred P. Wacker | 1 September 1976 – 29 February 1980 | Donald H. Rumsfeld Harold Brown | Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter | |
| Jack R. Borsting | 12 August 1980 – 31 December 1982 | Harold Brown Caspar W. Weinberger | Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan | |
| John R. Quetsch (Acting) | 1 January 1983 – 23 February 1983 | Caspar W. Weinberger | Ronald Reagan | |
| Vincent Puritano | 24 February 1983 – 30 May 1984 | |||
| John R. Quetsch (acting) | 31 May 1984–14 August 1984 | |||
| Robert W. Helm | 16 August 1984 – 1 October 1986 | |||
| Department of Defense Comptroller | ||||
| Robert W. Helm | 1 October 1986 – 1 September 1988 | Caspar W. Weinberger Frank C. Carlucci III | Ronald Reagan | |
 | Clyde O. Glaister | 17 October 1988 – 22 May 1989 | Frank C. Carlucci III William H. Taft IV (Acting) Richard B. Cheney | Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush |
 | Sean O'Keefe | 22 May 1989 – 7 July 1992 | Richard B. Cheney | George H. W. Bush |
| Donald B. Shycoff (Acting) | 8 July 1992 – 2 April 1993 | Richard B. Cheney Leslie Aspin, Jr. | George H. W. Bush William Clinton | |
 | Alice C. Maroni (Acting) | 6 May 1993 – 26 October 1993 | Leslie Aspin, Jr. | William Clinton |
 | John J. Hamre | 26 October 1993 – 5 September 1994 | Leslie Aspin, Jr. William J. Perry | |
| Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller/Chief Financial Officer) | ||||
| John J. Hamre | 5 September 1994 – 29 July 1997 | William J. Perry | William Clinton |
| William S. Cohen | ||||
 | William J. Lynn | 19 November 1997 – 19 January 2001 | William S. Cohen | |
 | Dov S. Zakheim | 3 May 2001 – 15 July 2004 | Donald H. Rumsfeld | George W. Bush |
| Lawrence J. Lanzillotta (Acting) | 15 July 2004 – 27 July 2004 | |||
%252C_official_portrait.jpg.webp) | Tina W. Jonas | 27 July 2004 - 26 September 2008[13] | ||
| Robert M. Gates | ||||
 | Robert F. Hale | 9 February 2009[14] – 27 June 2014 | Barack Obama | |
| Leon Panetta | ||||
| Chuck Hagel | ||||
 | Michael J. McCord | 27 June 2014 – 20 January 2017[15] | ||
| Ash Carter | ||||
 | John P. Roth (Acting) | 20 January 2017 – 1 June 2017[11] | James Mattis | Donald Trump |
 | David Norquist | 2 June 2017[11] – 31 July 2019 | ||
| Patrick M. Shanahan (Acting) | ||||
 | Elaine McCusker (Acting) | 31 July 2019 – 26 June 2020 | Mark Esper | |
 | Thomas Harker (Acting) | 26 June 2020[16] – April 9, 2021 | ||
| Anne McAndrew (Acting) | April 9, 2021 - June 3, 2021 | Lloyd Austin | Joe Biden | |
 |
Michael J. McCord | June 3, 2021 - present | ||
References
- 5 U.S.C. § 5314
- "US CODE: Title 10,135. Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)". Retrieved 23 September 2007.
- "Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)". Retrieved 23 September 2007.
- "Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) > About OUSD(C) > OUSD(C) Top Leaders". comptroller.defense.gov. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
- "US CODE: Title 10,185. Financial Management Modernization Executive Committee". Retrieved 23 September 2007.
- "US CODE: Title 10,186. Defense Business System Management Committee". Retrieved 23 September 2007.
- "Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Budget Estimates, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD)" (PDF). Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), OSD. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
- Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Budget Estimates, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), p.664
- Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Budget Estimates, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), p.688-90
- Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Budget Estimates, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), p.714
- "Department of Defense Key Officials September 1947–February 2019" (PDF). history.defense.gov. Historical Office Office of the Secretary of Defense. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
- "Department of Defense Key Officials (September 1947 – July 2021)" (PDF). Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense. 20 July 2021.
- "Defense comptroller leaves for industry job". Retrieved 21 September 2016.
- "Head Count | Tracking Obama's Appointments | The Washington Post". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010.
- "Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) > About OUSD(C) > comptroller_Bio". comptroller.defense.gov. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
- Mehta, Aaron (6 July 2020). "Harker takes over as acting Pentagon comptroller". defensenews.com. Defense News.
